Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-10-16/Featured content



This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from October 6, 2013 through October 12, 2013.

Featured articles
Six featured articles were promoted this week.
 * 509th Composite Group (nom) by and .  This United States Army Air Forces unit existed for less than two years during World War II, but was tasked with the "operational deployment of nuclear weapons".  The planes that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki belonged to the 509th.
 * Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (nom) by and .  Colombian recording artist Shakira's sixth album is a latin pop work produced by Rick Rubin.  Volume 1 holds the record for the highest debut for a full-length Spanish language album in the United States.  Volume 2 was released five months later.
 * Mistle Thrush (nom) by . Turdus viscivorus is a common, large thrush that feasts on invertebrates, seeds, and berries, including Mistletoe berries, whence the bird gets its name.  Found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, the mistle thrush greatly expanded its habitat in the 18th and 19th centuries, and has adapted to living in suburban and urban green spaces.
 * Enrico Fermi (nom) by . This Italian physicist was the father of the first nuclear reactor, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, and was the 1938 Nobel laureate in Physics.  Everything from particles, equations, a fundamental force of nature, a particle accelerator, a telescope, and the United States Atomic Energy Commission's highest honor were named for Fermi.
 * God of War: Ghost of Sparta (nom) by . The God of War series' sixth installment, Ghost of Sparta allows the player to once again take control of Kratos, the God of War, who in this episode is seeking vengeance against Thanatos, the God of Death.  Released initially on the PSP, gameplay is based on the player achieving combos during combat.  The game was later re-released in two different collections for the Playstation 3.
 * L'Arianna (nom) by . Composer Claudio Monteverdi's second opera, L'Arianna is one of the earliest operas, having been first performed in Mantua in 1608.  Written between November 1607 and January 1608, Monteverdi would later complain that the pressure of composing the opera within that short period of time nearly killed him.  The story follows Theseus' abandonment of the Minotaur's half-sister, Ariadne, on the island of Naxos, and her later marriage to the god Bacchus.

Featured lists
Two featured lists were promoted this week.
 * 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup squads (nom) by . Eight national teams competed in this 2009 competition, held that year in Australia.  England won its second title at the conclusion of the competition, with that nation's Claire Taylor accumulating a tournament-high 324 runs.
 * List of songs recorded by Ashley Tisdale (nom) by . This American actress, singer, and songwriter has recorded 75 songs, from 2009's "Acting Out" to 2011's "You're Going Down".  Many of her recording efforts were part of the Phineas & Ferb and High School Musical series, although Tisdale has also recorded songs for two studio albums, as well as a promotional campaign for Degree anti-perspirant.

Featured pictures
Thirty–three featured pictures were promoted this week.
 * Frontispiece, Weland's Sword, Young Men at the Manor, Young Men at the Manor II, Young Men at the Manor III, The Knights of the Joyous Venture, The Knights of the Joyous Venture II, The Knights of the Joyous Venture III, Old Men at Pevensey, Old Men at Pevensey II, A Centurion of the Thirtieth, On the Great Wall, The Winged Hats, The Winged Hats II, The Winged Hats III, The Winged Hats IV, Hal o' the Draft, "Dimchurch Flit", The Treasure and the Law, The Treasure and the Law II (nom, related article) created by H. R. Millar and restored and nominated by . This set of twenty illustrations by H. R. Millar accompanied Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's HIll, published first in 1906.
 * Vatican City map (nom, related article) created by and nominated by .  This map gives a detailed overview of the locations of the many sites of interest within the Catholic Church's enclave in Rome.
 * Prague astronomical clock face (nom, related article) created and nominated by . Prague's astronomical clock was crafted in 1410, and resides on the southern wall of the Old Town City Hall in the Czech Republic's capital.
 * Road Maker (nom, related article) created by Karl Bodmer, restored by, and nominated by . This image of a Hidatsa chief, engraved in the 1840s, illustrates the article concerning that ethnic group.
 * Two scenes from Der Busant (nom, related article) created by an unknown 15th century textile artist, nominated by . This tapestry from Alsace depicts two scenes from a Middle High German verse narrative that tells the tale of a love affair between the Princess of France and the Prince of England.
 * Bryce Canyon Amphitheatre (nom, related article) created by, nominated by .  Bryce Canyon National Park is located in the U.S. state of Utah, and this new featured image depicts its numerous red-colored hoodoos.
 * Indian chameleon (nom, related article) created by M. Arun Prasad, nominated by . Chamaeleo zeylanicus is a chameleon found in India, Sri Lanka, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
 * The Taking of Lungtungpen I and The Taking of Lungtungpen II (nom, related article) created by Archibald Standish Hartrick, restored and nominated by . Rudyard Kipling's The Taking of Lungtungpen was published in 1887, and was republished in 1896 with illustrations by Hatrick, which are now featured pictures.
 * Ada Lovelace (nom, related article) created by Alfred Edward Chalon and nominated by .  Lovelace was an English mathematician and writer, and has been described as the world's first computer programmer because of an algorithm she developed for the Analytical Engine...in the 1840s.
 * Landsort Lighthouse (nom, related article) created by Arild Vågen and nominated by . This Swedish lighthouse on the island of Öja was built in 1689, with a conical upper section added in 1870.
 * Whistlejacket (nom, related article) created by George Stubbs, restored by, and nominated by . George Stubbs' 1762 oil painting depicts a racehorse belonging to the Marquess of Rockingham; the fact that the portrait is set against a solid-colored background led to some controversy over whether or not the painting was complete.
 * Egyptian Vulture (nom, related article) created by and nominated by .  The Egyptian Vulture is an endangered member of the Accipitridae family of birds of prey.  This vulture feeds mostly on carrion, but sometimes feasts on other birds' eggs by use of tools such as pebbles, a trait rare in birds.
 * Sleeping Venus (nom, related article) created by Giorgione and nominated by . Italian master Giorgione painted this depiction of the Greco-Roman goddess of love in about 1510, but the painter Titian completed the painting's sky and landscape after Giorgione's death; Titian painted his own version of the reclining Venus in 1538.

Featured topic

 * John Edward Brownlee (nom) by and .  This fifth Premier of the Canadian province of Alberta also served as that province's Attorney–General, Provincial Secretary, and a member of its Legislative Assembly.  Featured articles in this topic include one discussing Brownlee's time as Attorney-General, one concerning his Premiership, and an article covering a 1934 sex scandal that ended Brownlee's time as Premier.